Vietnam sets $379M capital rule for new crypto exchanges under pilot

Vietnam is finally putting rules on the table. The government has approved a five-year crypto trading pilot, locking in what 17 million Vietnamese have already been doing behind the scenes.

Per a statement on the government website, this is a full-scale, government-backed push into regulated crypto trading after years of operating in the dark.

Every exchange under this trial must be Vietnamese-owned. No foreign company is allowed to run platforms. Issuing, trading, and paying for crypto must all happen in Vietnamese dong.

Only Vietnamese companies can issue crypto assets, and even then, they can only offer them to foreign investors. Locals can trade, but they can’t issue.

Government sets capital rules and foreign ownership limits

There’s a massive barrier to entry. Anyone looking to start an exchange in Vietnam must bring a minimum capital of 10 trillion dong, that’s around $379 million.

Out of that, at least 65% must come from institutional investors. Even with that much money on the line, foreign investors can’t take control. They’re capped at 49% ownership of any crypto trading business.

The government knows exactly what it’s walking into. Last year, Vietnam ranked fifth in the world in crypto adoption, based on data from Chainalysis. People aren’t waiting for permission. The market already holds over $100 billion in digital assets, according to Vietnam Investment Review. The state is just catching up.

To get things moving, Vietnamese crypto holders and foreign investors will be allowed to open new accounts under the legal framework. But there’s a deadline coming.

Six months after the first license is issued, all trades made by Vietnamese users on unlicensed exchanges will be considered illegal. The government hasn’t said what kind of penalties it will slap on rule breakers. But that clock will be ticking.

In June, Vietnam’s parliament passed a new law officially recognizing digital assets starting January 2026. This law marks a clean break from past policy, when the central bank and other state agencies kept warning people to stay far away from crypto.

The turnaround is clear. Officials now see blockchain, crypto, and digital infrastructure as one of eleven tech areas that could help push the country toward double-digit economic growth.

One deal is already in motion. Dunamu, the company behind Upbit, signed a memorandum of understanding with Vietnam’s Military Bank last month. The agreement will let the bank build a crypto exchange in Vietnam, using Upbit’s tech. That transfer is already underway.

Still, not everything is on the table. Bitcoin and other “virtual currencies” are not legal tender in Vietnam, and the government hasn’t announced any plans to change that. But officials are looking at a workaround.

The idea is to build sandbox mechanisms; special zones with looser regulations. These sandboxes are part of bigger plans to create international financial centers in Danang and Ho Chi Minh City. That means crypto could play a key role in Vietnam’s financial sector from the ground up.

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